Google Wallet Founders Personalize In-Store Shopping with Index
home and shop on their computers, thanks to a slew of features from customer reviews to recommended items based on a shoppers browsing history.
Already Amazon has charged ahead in this arena, leaving brick-and-mortar retailers at a loss when it comes to keeping customers in the store. But Index, a new analytics company from the original members of the Google Wallet team that’s dedicated to personalized retail, is hoping to change this.
This week the startup is announcing new details to their product along with $7 million in Series A funding, led by Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Khosla Ventures, AIMCo and 819 Capital.
According to the Index team, the key is helping these retailers to wield their stores in a way that will set them apart from the online competition. Catering to top-tier retailers like Macy’s or Best Buy, the product will integrate its software with point-of-sale terminals to connect shoppers’ online and offline purchase history to the store they’re currently browsing through.
According to the founders, former Google Wallet executives Marc Freed-Finnegan and Jonathan Wall, once the software links up to the online and mobile stores along with social media, brick-and-mortar retailers will be able to offer similar personalization to what shoppers find on websites like Amazon.
“Offline needs the same tools as online, and they have the same data and interactions when it comes to in-store engagements and purchases,” said Wall in an interview with TechCrunch. “These retailers just don’t have the technology to capture this technology and use this data to help create a better relationship with their customers.”
One example where it’s easiest to envision Index’s potential benefits is in a retailer’s mobile app. As soon as a shopper with a retailer’s app nears one of their stores, they will automatically be checked in to receive coupons and recommendations based on their personal shopping and browsing history.
As for Index’s one business model, not many details have been revealed, but Index will be payed when retailers make sales with the use of their analytics tool.
